Doesn't the title of today's post sound like every little girl's dream day out? :)

Though I had hoped to have a more festive outfit post to share with all of you today, between numerous health issues I’ve been contending with and a jam packed work load and social calendar this fall (and now winter), Tony and I have only had a chance to do two photo shoots since we returned from Victoria some 2.5 months ago now (and those would be the last two outfit posts I've shared here in recent weeks). That said, I'll still try to get a Christmassy ensemble up before the year is over, if a shoot is able to happen in the coming days.

That is one of the beauties of the holiday season isn't it? It's quite literally a small season unto itself and affords one the chance to do all kinds of fun, festive, highly photo worthy things over the span of multiple days or even weeks.

Right now though, let me hop away from the mulled cider, sublimely scented pine trees, and dazzling outdoor light displays and to our Vancouver Island vacation back at the start of autumn. Nearly every day of our two week holiday was bursting with activities and on one of the later days, we visited two places I'd wanted to see for many years now. Though, in actuality, we only went into one of them (more on that a little later on).

Our first big stop for the day was the breathtakingly beautiful Victoria Butterfly Gardens, which are located between the cities of Victoria and Sidney. Butterflies have always been very near and dear to my heart, to the extent that I almost see them as a personal mascot of sorts. On top of that, they're endlessly lovely and also very relaxing to watch, so I knew that a trip (a first for both Tony and I) to the Butterfly Gardens was a must on our holiday.

Tony had a Groupon coupon for the Gardens, which saved us a fair bit on admission, but I would have happily paid full price to get in, if we'd had to. Housed in a large climate controlled building, the gardens are a lush, tropical paradise of verdant plants and many, many different species of butterflies from around the world, as well as a few other lovely critters, such as different types of birds (like parrots and flamingos), frogs, koi fish, tortoises, and lizards.

The environment, as one might imagine, is humid, but not uncomfortably so (at least to me) and I greatly enjoyed the leisurely visit we had there, snapping cell phone photos, reading the information plaques on different species, and hoping that a butterfly might land on one of us (none did, but then again, we didn't see them do so on any other visitors either - perhaps next time!). There is something deeply enchanting, even magical about being surrounded by countless butterflies and a smatter of wild critters that most of us don't commonly come in contact with. It brings out your inner child, your inner lepidopterist, and your inner animal biologist all at the same time.

We capped off our visit to the Victoria Butterfly Gardens with a stop at the gift shop, where I treaded myself to a cuter than cute little plush green caterpillar toy (I have zero qualms with admitting I'm a thirty-year old woman who still adores stuffed animals! :)), before heading off to explore various other local sights. As the day wound down, we thought we'd try to visit Hatley Castle near the super charming town of Sooke.

By the time we got there however, the visiting hours were almost over for the day, so we decided that instead of being terribly rushed, we'd just do a quick photo shoot on the lawn and instead make a point to arrive much earlier in the day on a future trip trip to the Island.

Built in 1908, Hatley Castle is located in Colwood and is a Classified Federal Heritage Building that since 1995, has been used by the Royal Roads University. The castle - one of exceedingly few homes ever built, let alone still standing, in Canada to ever call itself such - was commissioned by wealthly Scottish Lieutenant Governor James Dunsmuir and his wife, Laura, who set highly renewed Canadian architect Samuel Maclure to work designing and constructing a gigantic mansion comprised of 40 rooms. The castle has what is known as a Scottish baronial style and shows elements of Tudor, Victorian and early Edwardian design influences. In the spirit of traditional European private estates, the Dunsmuirs christened their sprawling home and gardens Hatley Park.

The building remained in the Dunsmuir family until the end of the thirties, when it was sold to the Government of Canada. Over the course of the next few decades, it was used as the Royal Roads Military College, a Canadian naval training academy. Today, as mentioned above, it belongs to the Royal Roads University and is enjoyed by the students, staff and public in different capacities, including tours of its grand and stately rooms and gardens.

Extremely fascinatingly, in 1940, when the WW2 was in full force already in Europe, a contingency escape plan was made that would allow for King King George VI, his wife (the Queen Mother), and their two daughters (Elizabeth and Margaret) to reside in Canada at Hatley Castle. Though the Royal Family decided to weather the long war years at home in England, had the opted to leave, it my understanding that Hatley Castle would have been their most likely choice of a North American abode for the duration.

I think it would made a splendid temporary home, had they opted to leave England during the war and indeed, even just standing on the grounds of this majestic mansion - as much a castle (as its name implies) as one will find anywhere in this country - I couldn't help but feel a bit regal myself! :)

While we didn't get to see inside this towering grey stone castle that day, it was a pleasure just to be so near to it and to pose for some photos in what is essentially its present day backyard (at the time that the Dunsmuirs built their home here, the grounds were larger, but some of the land has been sold off over the years). Avid movie buffs may find that Hatley Castle looks familiar and indeed it may, as it has been used as a backdrop and/or setting for numerous TV shows and movies over the years, including as Professor Xavier's castle in some of the X-Men films.

Should you happen to find yourself on Vancouver Island anytime, I can't recommend visiting either (or both) of these places highly enough and I hope that on our next trip to that part of the country, we will indeed step foot inside Hatley Castle - no doubt (assuming they're permitted) with a new set of photos to follow.

Right now though, the only traveling we're doing is to visit nearby relatives in the Okanagan, very much including my mom and step-dad's house here in town, where we're spending many of the festive days of this beautiful season.

I hope that you're each having a marvelously merry December and that you enjoyed this look at another exciting day from our 2014 Vancouver Island adventure. I have some more photos from it to share with you still, so be sure to watch for further Victoria related posts in early 2015.

Happiest Christmas Eve, Eve wishes, my dear friends!

*PS*

Speaking of Christmas, don't forget that Chronically Vintage's exciting Buy More, Save More holiday season sale continues over in my Etsy shopuntil January 5, 2015. I don't plan on holding another big sale again for quite a while, so now is definitely the time to swoop in and pick up those items you've been eyeing lately, all at wonderfully discounted prices.

You might not be in traditional red and green, but this still looks plenty festive to me. I love the orange and navy color palette, and your hat, with the little bows, is so sweet! I usually steer clear of orange, but it looks so fabulous on you that I'm tempted to give it a chance.The butterfly garden sounds wonderful. I don't know if I would want any of the butterflies to land on me (I have this weird phobia of moths that carries over a little bit to butterflies), but just seeing them all around sounds really lovely. And that castle is so stunning, it's too bad you didn't have time to see more of it. Hopefully you'll get a good tour in next time.

I get that - I'm not a massive insect person in general and wouldn't want most species to crawl or land on me, but there are a very small number that I'd be cool with (ladybugs are another that I'm okay chilling with :)).

Orange, much like yellow, is a very tricky colour for me to pull off, as I have pink undertones in my skin. With yellow, I find that shades on the very light and very dark end of the spectrum work best on me, and with oranges usually just those - like this deep rusty shade - on the dark end. I suspect that similar shades would look gorgeous on you, too, dear gal (especially since you're a fellow "ginger" now :)).

Oh, my! First you stun us with a beautiful outfit of vibrant colors and gorgeous style -- and then you pose in front of a setting worthy of a movie!

I think it's called "Jessica's Choice," starring vintage blogger JC. Torn between the lowly Commoner she loves (Tony) and the aristocrat her family wants her to marry, Jessica faces a terrible dilemma. Will true love win out? Or will Jessica be condemned to a life of luxury, pampering and servants?

Ally, I honestly cannot remember the last time a blog comment that I received made me smile ear-to-ear the way yours did. I could picture the story line you wrote perfectly - complete with the intro song music from Downton Abbey playing in the background. Perpetual romantic and believer in following your heart that I am, true love would trump a life of pampered wealth every time.

Isn't it jaw-droppingly stunning!!! The fact that it's on the edge of the Pacific Ocean (literally) and flanked by majestic, verdant trees and grounds in all other directions just makes me adore it all the more.

How wonderful that you were able to visit BC. I hope you had a fantastic time in my home province. If you're ever back this way and heading through the Okanagan, please feel free to give me a shout! :)

It really was an awesome trip from start to finish. Looking back now, about three months since we left for this exciting two week holiday, I can scarcely believe just how much we saw, experienced and photographed (between the frequent rainfalls) while on Vancouver Island. I really look forward to continuing to share the remainder of the photos from our travels that I have here in the new year.

Excellent eye, my sweet friend, that I did. I actually wore this exact same outfit another day during our trip (the one on which we saw Russell Peters perform live), but didn't get any photos of it then. Honestly, I'm glad we didn't because we probably wouldn't have shot the same outfit twice in such a short time frame and I think it was meant to pose with these beautiful butterflies and stunning stately mansion instead of, say, a parking lot outside a comedy show. :)

You would absolutely, positively love Vancouver Island to no end! It's rife with vintage homes and buildings, amazing natural settings, tons to see and do - the list goes on and on. If you ever get the chance to visit, I really can't recommend doing so highly enough (and I have a wee list of vintage shops I can share with you anytime, if you do head up that way).

I just love shirt dresses and the colours and pattern on yours are darling. It suits you fabulously and that is a great hat too! Butterfly gardens - or any kind of butterfly anythig in fact - are one of my favourite things ever. They never land on me either but I can't mind when they're so beautiful to watch. I can't be unhappy surrounded by butterflies! CC x

Oh what a breathtakingly beautiful place! And your outfit is so pretty, Jessica. You're making me want to explore my own backyard more and more. Have a wonderful and fantastic holiday season, you're such a sweet person, and you deserve amazingly sweet things! <3

First, I must gush about your eyebrows!!! Oh my goodness, gal, could you please do a tutorial? They are perfectly mind blowing!! This dress is also drool-worthy, I would want to wear it every day. And the hat, to top it all off, you have really out done yourself here. I so over seeing your beautiful outfits and reading about your adventures. I would love to visit a butterfly garden some day. You got some amazing pictures and I bet it was even more beautiful in person. Lovely job, my friend. Happy Holidays.

It really was stunning and I must say, I'm itching to get back and actually step foot inside of it. I've been to two other Canadian castles over the years (on in Toronto, one in Victoria proper, though on different trips back during my childhood, not this recent one) and both were stunning, but I suspect that Hatley Castle might just take the cake! :)

Thank you very much for the lovely request and compliment about my eyebrows. I have almost no natural brow hair (it thinned to that point in my teens, more than a decade before the hair on my head warranted the wearing of a wig due to its own thinning, which also began in my teens) and have been drawing these puppies on for ages now. I used to do a more exaggerated - think mid-1950s Vogue model - shape, and liked it for a while, but grew tired of it and shifted to this fairly natural shape (or at least more natural than before!) a couple years ago.

Due to some of my conditions (and general severe chronic pain levels), my hands/arms tend to shake a fair bit when I do my makeup (or hold my hands up for any reason), so I've thus far refrained from doing makeup videos, but perhaps something could be done with good old photos. I'll certainly think about it and really appreciate the request, sweet gal! It's always awesome to know specifically what my friends and readers might like to see here.

I hope you're having a terrific holiday season. Other than the lack of snow here at the moment, things are wonderfully festive on our end.

as i began to scroll through this post, i was immediately captivated by the wonderful shots of wildlife. the history of the place is equally fascinating, and i think your outfit, with the awesome plaid dress, is very festive! even if it was from fall, the red color does sort of tie in :)

Thank you sweetly, my very observant friend. From the small pool of available (thus far un-blogged about) photo shoots that I had to hand, I opted for this one for that very reason (that the plaid looked the festive part). I have a couple of new dresses, one of which is very festive looking, that I hope to wear and photograph before the year is up, so hopefully an even more Christmassy outfit post will happen soon as well.

Jessica, your outfit and surroundings are beautiful! Thank you for your lovely comment on my Swirl dress and Thank you for your Etsy sale- I think you instantly tripled my bangle collection ;) Have a great Christmas break x

You are entirely welcome, sweet dear. Many thanks in turn for your wonderfully nice one here today and again for your awesome recent order. I appreciate your business a great deal and am tickled pink to have helped bolster your bangle collection so substantially. :)

What an amazing outfit Jessica! I am swooning over the bow details, and the plaid! Orange is normally a color I steer well clear of, but this dress looks divine on you, particularly with the navy accents. Oh yes, that hat.... It's sooo perfectly cute!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and the best holiday season ever, ❤

Thank you very much, my sweet friend! I had a feeling you'd be especially fond of this whimsically navy blue vintage topper. I love that while quirky, it's also strikingly chic and can be worn with quite a wide range of 40s and 50s ensembles.

The dress, the hat, the house, the butterflies! Everything here is just too lovely for words! And I'm sure you've noticed how my comments tend to ramble, so it's really telling when I've been stunned into [near] silence, hahaha.Happy Christmas! <3

I adore your sweet, uplifting comments, dear Rach, and always appreciate everything you share here with me. Thank you for this splendidly nice comment and for the lovely holiday wishes. I hope you have a fabulously festive Christmas and an endlessly happy New Year, too!

THat shade and tartan looks fabulous on you! How lucky to be able to be photographed with that background! That's the problem with Australia, there is nowhere quite that old to stand in front of! Looking great!

Thank you very much, darling gal! Goodness, do I get that entirely. Canada, for the most part (there are small exceptions on the east coast, which was settled in some areas centuries before the west was) is an exceedingly new country and we have very little architecture still standing that predates the late Victorian era, especially out here in BC, the most westerly province in the country. This castle is a rare, spectacular gem and I'm so grateful it's not only still standing, but being properly well maintained and enjoyed to this day,

Thank you very much, sweet lady. Isn't that hat sensational? I love it's unforgettable blend of whimsy and chicness - not to mention that fact that it's actually surprisingly easy to style with quite a host of mid-century outfits.

Thank you very much, my darling friend! Your comment made me smile and is very touching. I truly love knowing when something I sport finds particular favour with a reader/online friend. I loved it, too, and definitely count it amongst my favourites from this year.

Lovely outfit, Jessica.. just fabulous. Especially love your dress and that marvelous hat. It is very festive indeed!

I too, am a stuffed animal lover at the 'older' age of 51. I'm especially partial to dogs with floppy ears and have several. I'll likely never outgrow my love for them no matter how old i get, and it's totally understandable that you love them. These photos of the castle and the butterfly gardens are beautiful. Butterflies are so delicate and sweet. Also strong in their own ways.

A very Merry Christmas to you and Tony! I've been neglecting the blog world of late, and for that i apologize. It's been a busy year for my husband and i and he has had a few health issues, but they are resolved, we think, so i'll be 'on' much more often. I have so missed visiting here and the many blogs i love.

Sweet Mary, it truly is a beautiful joy to hear from you again. Thank you for commenting on not one, but two of my recent posts this week. I'm deeply sorry to hear about your husband's health issues and truly do hope that things continue to look up for him on that front.

I've missed you as well and hope we can connect more again in 2015. Here's to a joyful, healthy, exciting New Year for both of us and our families!

Such a beautiful plaid! I love orange and navy together, though here in Denver it is a hazard to wear them together lest I be confused for a Broncos football fan! What an excellent castle as well, they are hard to come by here on our side of the world after all :)

What a lovely place and all the animals are awesome! That parrot! <3 . I like your outfit too, I'm really into plaid/tartan at the moment and your hat is so fantastic too. I hope you managed to have a break from the chaos and have a relaxing xmas. x

Aww, thank you very much, honey! I am wild about bow jewelry and bow motifs in fashion (or anywhere), too. I'd venture to guess I have about five different bow brooches and they all get worn throughout the year.

It was interesting to read about the history of the castle, especially the wartime link. I bet it would be interesting to look around and it is a great backdrop for photos. I love your festive dress, such a nice colour combination. Your hat is a lot of fun too! Hope you are having a fabulous festive period.

Majorly so! I'm hoping to practically get off the ferry and beeline straight to the castle the next time we're on the Island (okay, that might not be possible, but at least to visit asap!). Being so close and not going actually going inside is borderline torture for a vintage/history lover like me! :)

Joyful New Year's wishes to you, my sweet friend! May each day of the coming year bring nothing but lovely things your way!

Isn't that hat all kinds of sensational? I wore it twice on our trip, though only got a couple phone snaps of it the other day. I love it to bits and think it takes top billing as the most whimsical chapeau I own (and yet it's still fabulously easy to wear and weave into a host of different outfits).

How wonderful that you have a butterfly garden nearby. They truly are one of the loveliest places imaginable. I hope you have a fabulous time visiting the one at the Winnipeg Zoo next year.

Wow this is totally a dream day out !I would loved to be there!Being among this such beautiful butterflies and lovely setting ... Looks very much like Scotland okay now I understand why my scottish uncle just loves British columbia ;)And you're right it looks very similar to the Xmen school , just a dream to me haha.

Your outfit is very pretty this is totally the vintage I love that dress is perfect matched with the gloves and charming tilt hat <3

You are as sweet a million candy canes, dear Lorna, thank you very much!

Interestingly, British Columbia has a rich Scottish heritage with numerous buildings and grand homes being built by those with strong Scotch ties during the Victorian and Edwardian era in particular. They, along with the Brits, were some of the most common European (early) settlers to this area. To this day, there's even an annual Scottish Highland Games event held right here in Penticton - that hopefully I'll finally get a chance to attend again for the first time in 16+ years in 2015 (I always seem to be living elsewhere or too ill to attend when it rolls around).

That is immensely sweet, darling gal! Vintage hats have been a huge passion of mine for many, many years now. Interestingly, growing up I really didn't think that I was a hat person because most styles of the day (think floppy denim Blossom styles and baseball caps) didn't look good on me at all. Little did I know that I just had to wait until I hit my teen years when I started wearing vintage and very quickly established a love of vintage hats, many styles of which did/do work well for me (yay!!!).

It's too bad we don't live nearby, sweet gal, I would happily let you borrow a hat from my collection anytime you wanted, if we did.

I hope you're doing great and enjoying a truly beautiful holiday season!

Your tartan dress is so lovely. I'm just mad for tartan and this print suits you down to the ground.

I love butterflies too. In fact, my name, Vanessa, actually means "butterfly". The Melbourne Zoo has a gorgeous butterfly house and it's one of my favourite places to visit. I've actually been lucky enough to have a butterfly land on me a couple of times. The trick seems to be standing very still and wearing bright blue or green (for some reason they seem to be attracted to bright shades).

It looks like you had an amazing holiday. Thank you for sharing it with us. :)

Ooohh, I love that tip about wearing bright green or blue. I'll try to pack something in one or both of those colours for our next trip to Vancouver Island, in case we go to the Butterfly Gardens again. Thank you for sharing that with me.

I didn't know, and now totally love, that your name means butterfly. What an incredibly meaning for one's moniker to have.

Thank you very much, sweet Beta. Isn't that hat fabulous? I found it at a very small antiques shop about 20 minutes away from us in the early days of autumn 2013. Though quirky, it's neutral hue and classic shape (of the hat itself) makes it a cinch to style in the context of many different mid-century looks and I truly love it to bits!

My deepest wishes for an amazing, happy, healthy and fun filled 2015 to you as well!♥ Jessica

I just discovered that for some strange reason I had never read this post. I wonder how I have missed it in Bloglovin. But anyway, now I have and I am SO in love with your lovely red plaid dress. It reminds me much of my new dark blue and green plaid dress. I am obssesed with plaids this winter. And what a beautiful castle. I would never have guessed that it wasn't older. In Europe we have many very old castles, like more than a thousand years old. We often visit them in Austria, I never get tired of it. Have a lovely day, dear. :)

Oooh, me too - big time! In late December I went thrift shopping for a full day in both Penticton and (the nearby bigger city of) Kelowna. Very little was found on the vintage front (for myself or the shop), but I came home with several modern, very vintage appropriate plaid shirts that happened to cross my path in various stores and look forward to sporting them sans coat/jacket once the weather warms up (and as layering pieces now).

Thank you very much for your wonderfully nice comment. I swear, sometimes feedreaders some how skip showing a certain post to some people. I see it occasionally with the various blogs I follow, too. No worries! :) I'm touched that you commented on this one today.

That castle is simply beautiful, but that photo of the moth is just amazing, really I am not fond of them, but love that capture. And you're dress I had to do a double check, I was certain it was new look. Don't you just love how 70s/80s pieces can look so similar to original ones?

I truly do! As much as I love (and will always love) and often wear genuine vintage, for me nailing a look usually matters more than if the items themselves are actually several decades old or not. It's possible to find incredibly vintage appropriate pieces from the 70s right on up today and use them to create striking mid (or even early) 20th century looks that are no less stylish than the fully real vintage deal.

I'm Jessica, a lifelong lover of all things antique and vintage, especially those from the 1930s, 40s and 50s.

This blog is my visual scrapbook in which I record and share my thoughts on the multitude of sources, people and products that inspire and feed a modern gal's addiction to the past. I also post about the vintage clothes, hairstyles and make-up looks that I adore wearing.

Stay a spell and have a blast as we explore the incomparably fantastic world of vintage history and fashion together.

All images used on this site are credited to their original posters/creators/sources,
however if at any time you would prefer not to see one of your images here, please email me and I'll take it down right away.

PS...I just wanted to say thank you very much for visiting and to tell you that you're equal parts awesome and beautiful.